Year: 2021

Prajwal K R and Rudrabha Mukhopadyay, researchers at the Centre for Visual Information Technology, International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIITH) under the guidance of Prof. C V Jawahar and Prof. Vinay Namboodiri (University of Bath) are using a sophisticated AI framework and technique that enables one to synchronize lip movements of a person in a video to match it with any audio clip.

The IIITH AI model can be applied to create videos of any face, in any voice or language throwing open endless possibilities. While the implications for entertainment are mind-boggling, there’s something even closer to Prof. Jawahar’s heart that has spurred this particular research in the first place and that is using AI in the context of education. With his vision of easy availability and access to educational online content to all, the professor is of the opinion that language should be the least of the barriers to gaining knowledge.

Thanks to this technology, well-made lectures by prominent professors or experts on certain topics can be translated into any language of your choice. Or better still, highly accented English videos themselves can be recreated into an accent more comprehensible to the Indian populace.

In the current context of a wholesale virtual education across the country, the technology has the potential in making education more inclusive, especially for rural students. In situations where there is low internet bandwidth and other connectivity issues, lessons with only audio content can be streamed while the AI algorithm could generate the corresponding video accurately matching the original audio.

Such a novel approach can make the learning experience a fulfilling one. In a world where online interactions are the new normal, the researchers foresee its applications in video calls and conferencing where the tech comes to the rescue in case of video glitches. That is, if the incoming video signal is lost, the AI model can automatically plug in a synthetic video with accurate lip sync, enabling the work-from-home situation.

The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) participated for the first time in the International Innovation and Invention Competition (IIIC) Taiwan held in November 2020. Six innovations covering education technology, wellness, and environmental science received four gold and two silver medals, including three out of a possible four gold medals in the EdTech innovation category.

Congratulating the winners, Professor Lui Tai-lok, Vice President (Research and Development), said, “The integration of technology in education enriches the educational experience. The IIIC accolades demonstrate the influential role of EdUHK in EdTech, as well as the favorable reception the innovations received from the Chinese user market. We will continue to innovate and advance education in Hong Kong and in the Asia-Pacific region.”

OASIS, an online assessment system for individual scores, has won a gold medal. The principal investigator for this project is Professor Woo Chi-keung, Department of Asian and Policy Studies, and co-investigators are Dr Henry So Chi-fuk, Lecturer, Department of Mathematics and Information Technology; external partners Dr Alice Shiu and Dr Liu Yun.

The Mandarin Spoken Word-Picture Identification Test in Noise – Adaptive (MAPID-A) is another innovation that has bagged gold. Dr Kevin Yuen Chi-pun, Associate Professor, Department of Special Education and Counselling is the principal investigator.

VocabGO, an augmented reality English vocabulary learning app also won a gold medal. Dr Song Yanjie, Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics and Information Technology was the principal investigator, and the co-investigators were Dr Lai Yiu-chi, Associate Professor; Dr Alpha Ling Man-ho, Associate Professor; Mr Wu Kaiyi, Research Assistant, Department of Mathematics and Information Technology; external partners Dr Walter Ng Wing-shui and Dr Hiroaki Ogata.

The fourth gold medal was bagged by the university for the innovation- portable interactive & meditative mirror. Dr Hung Keung, Associate Professor, Department of Cultural and Creative Arts was the principal investigator on this research.

An emotion recognition system based on the deep neural network bagged a silver medal. The principal investigator for this was Dr Zou Di, Assistant Professor, Department of English Language Education while the co-investigators were Professor Chou Kee-lee, Chair Professor of Social Policy, Department of Asian and Policy Studies; and external partner Dr Xie Haoran.

The innovative eco-concrete block made by utilizing waste sludge won the other silver medal. Dr Tsang Yiu-fai, Associate Professor, Department of Science and Environmental Studies was the principal investigator while EdUHK alumnus Cheng Wai-nam was the co-investigator.

Management and Science University (MSU) student Rossheni Kaur Balwant Singh has been declared the winner of the World Mental Health Day Article Writing Competition by the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF) Asia Pacific Regional Office (APRO).

Rossheni, a student of the Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons) program at the MSU School of Pharmacy (SPH) and Secretary of the MSU Pharmacy Club 2018/2019, has received a Certificate of Excellence for her article ‘The role of pharmacists in building resilient communities to improve mental health and wellbeing during Covid-19’.

Mental wellbeing is considered a state of health. Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, its condition is expected to queue into second place in the year 2020 behind cardiovascular disease’s effect on human health and economic potential.

Community resilience and supportive environments are important not only for health and wellness but also required for the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs).

Encouraging pharmaceutical contribution towards building resilient communities, Rossheni in her article proposes mental health and wellness programs as well as literacy improvement. Pharmacists are equipped with background knowledge, communication, and counseling skills, she writes; and may utilize tools such as Australia’s ‘RUOK’ and the Malaysian Mental Health Booklet as basic guides for initiating conversations related to mental health.

As one of the MSU School of Pharmacy (SPH) star students, she was received the President’s List award once and the Dean’s List award seven-times for emerging tops in academics and co-curricular.

The next measure would be the proactive attainment of a basic skill set for mental health and psychological support. Valuable resources pharmacists can capitalize on including the ‘Basic Psychosocial Skills: A Guide for Covid-19 Responders’ and ‘Doing What Matters in Times of Stress: An Illustrated Guide’. Pharmacists may also obtain certification in Mental Health First Aid.

Her third proposed measure is for pharmacists to undertake professional mental health training programs to build the supportive environments required for the nurturing of resilient communities. As pharmacists already play a role in psychiatric services (government hospitals, community pharmacy), such training programs would enhance their contribution towards workforce capacity in improving mental healthcare professional distribution and access.

The winning article is due to appear in the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF) Asia Pacific Regional Office (APRO) World Mental Health Day 2020 Official Booklet.

As a member of IPSF, Rossheni is one among half a million pharmacy students and recent graduates affiliated to IPSF worldwide through regional extensions APRO (Asia Pacific Regional Office), AfRO (African Regional Office, EMRO (Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office), EuRO (European Regional Office), and PARO (Pan American Regional Office).

In second and third places respectively as the first and second runners-up to Rossheni Kaur Balwant Singh of Management and Science University (MSU) in the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF) Asia Pacific Regional Office (APRO) World Mental Health Day Article Writing Competition are Chui Jun Hao from AIMST University and Lai Jun Hua from Universiti Sains Malaysia.

The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (FKM), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia hosted the First UiTM- Afridat UG (Haftungsbeschränkt) Germany joint e-MoU signing ceremony and e-Colloquium Webinar on ‘Renewable Hydrogen Energy’ in November 2020. The joint colloquium was part of the MoU activities between UiTM and Management and Science University (MSU).

The session began with an opening speech by Professor Ir. Dr. Muhammad Azmi Ayub, Dean, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, UiTM. The dean congratulated both UiTM and Afridat UG (Haftungsbeschränkt) Germany for their initiative and commitment towards the success of the e-MoU program and emphasized that “today’s signing sets a significant milestone for closer research collaboration between UiTM and Afridat UG (Haftungsbeschränkt) Germany”.

The session continued with a speech by Dr.-Ing. Ibrahim Kolawole Muritala, Executive Director of Afridat UG (Haftungsbeschränkt) Germany who identified some areas of collaboration with UiTM.

The session ended with an open discussion between the Vice-Chancellor of UiTM – Emeritus Professor Datuk Ir Dr Mohd Azraai Kassim and the representative of Afridat UG (Haftungsbeschränkt) Germany. The Vice-Chancellor of UiTM encouraged more joint collaborations and hoped that the e-MoU will be a gateway for more European Union joint projects on renewable energy

The second day of the e-Colloquium Webinar started with an opening speech by the Dean, FKM, UiTM. This was followed by a presentation by Dr.-Ing. Alhassan Salami Tijani from UiTM who presented his research on the Advance Modelling Approach of Renewable Hydrogen Production. Dr Alhassan discussed in detail the latest trends and main challenges of hydrogen production through electrolyzer.

The next speaker, Dr.-Ing. Ibrahim Kolawole Muritala shared his research findings on “Alternative Methods of Renewable Hydrogen Production”. He focused his presentation on industrial processes and climate change effects and stressed the need to move from conventional energy resources to renewable hydrogen production.

The Dean in his closing remark highlighted, “Universities and research institutions have a leading role in the dissemination of domestic new technological innovation & inventions related to renewable hydrogen technology for their industrial players”.

He further added, “Adoption of local methods and improvement in technologies will lead to competitiveness and wealth creation. Finally, it is very important for universities to encourage strategic collaboration for quick-wins: upskilling & reskilling”.

The main expected outcome through this collaboration between UiTM and Afridat UG (Haftungsbeschränkt) Germany is to strengthen cooperation through high impact publications and promote international collaboration in relation to renewable energy technology between Asia and European Union.

Two professors from Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology, Thammasat University have been named in the recently released Stanford University list representing represents the top 2 percent of the most-cited scientists in various disciplines.

Prof. Dr.Sandhya Babel, School of Bio-Chemical Engineering and Technology, and Prof. Dr.Vladimir Kuprianov, Former Professor in School of Manufacturing Systems and Mechanical Engineering, have been included in Stanford University’s list for their work in the field of Environmental Sciences and Energy, respectively.

Prof. Dr.Sandhya Babel has been ranked at 1,408 from 66,925 scientists in Environmental Sciences while Prof. Dr. Vladimir Kuprianov ranks 3,444 in 186,014 scientists in the Energy field.

The entire list created by Stanford University and released recently in the journal PLOS and can be accessed at this link: https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3000918

With the start of the pandemic and subsequent switch to distant learning, many international students decided to leave Russia and return to their home countries. When the new academic year began in the autumn, many had problems getting back to their universities. Some ended up studying remotely.

At the beginning of the second wave, some students started thinking about going back home once again. Jovana Milić, a Master’s student at St. Petersburg Mining University, decided to stay no matter what. According to her, many students she knows are not leaving the country either.

“I am not going anywhere until I complete my studies, that is, not before summer then,” shares the student.

Jovana is also concerned that the coronavirus restrictions may hamper the education process or lead to negative consequences in the future. Engineers, who are sitting now at home, unable to undergo practical training or do lab work, will experience difficulties when entering the workforce.

Jovana is studying at the Faculty of Oil and Gas Engineering. She was born in Kraljevo, a city in central Serbia, but then her family moved to Novi Sad, the second-largest city in the country. As she was studying at school, the girl learned about the Energy of Knowledge program of Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS). She passed the competition and, as one of the best Serbian students, was granted a scholarship. As NIS’s majority shareholder is Gazprom Neft, the third-largest oil producer in Russia, Jovana was admitted to a Russian university.

“Studying in Russia is what I always wanted. The country’s resource potential allowed it to have gained profound academic and field experience in the extraction and processing of hydrocarbons. Since I had heard a lot about Mining University, my utmost desire was to study in St. Petersburg. When I first entered the university’s main building, I was deeply impressed: a majestic old building, corridors with portraits on the walls, astonishing library collections, and of course, the Mining Museum,” recalls Jovana.

The curriculum adopted at Russian technical universities implies that students take about 10 to 12 study courses per term. Higher engineering education is also built according to such a principle that first comes the theory. It continues with research or lab work and ends in field experiments. 

“I will give an example. In my third year, we had a lab session on which we learned how to use and operate deep-well sucker-rod pumps. Then I had a summer internship at NIS. I acknowledged myself with the job functions of an oil and gas production operator and realized I already had enough knowledge to administer the on-site oil extraction process. However, it was on-the-job training that made me fully comprehend the principles of work,” says Jovana.

“Afterward, we went through different other activities: we were taught how to enhance oil recovery, had lab classes on simulation of field development, learned about offshore production, used simulators to become familiar with well servicing, and a lot more. Each summer, we either had internships or field trips or both. Indeed, none of that is possible to be done online,” she adds.

Having earned her Bachelor’s degree, the Serbian student proceeded to a Master’s program. Soon, she familiarised herself with more field-specific topics and started attending conferences. Before the pandemic began, she had managed to participate in the SPE Tatarstan UpExPro 2020, an international scientific conference held in Kazan and organized by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). She had also taken part in the Winter School on Petroleum and Process Engineering. As part of the latter event, its participants were invited to visit one of the facilities of SIBUR, Russia’s largest petrochemicals company.

The international programs AMERTA XIII, LINGUA, and AMERTA Global Joint Class were officially completed on  January 20, 2021. Attended by all staff, lecturers, and program participants, this closing session marked the success of Universitas Airlangga in holding the three annual international programs online.

Held for one full semester, AMERTA is a foreign student exchange program, while Learning Indonesia Language at Universitas Airlangga (LINGUA) is a program to learn Indonesian language and culture. There was also AMERTA Global Joint Class, a Forensic Psychology class designed for international students and held for three months.

The three virtual programs attracted high enthusiasm from program participants from various countries. Czech student Lucie Rychla revealed that her opportunity to join AMERTA was a valuable experience that could broaden her knowledge of psychology.

Meanwhile, LINGUA program participant, Ania Tomczak, also shared her memorable experiences in the program. “This is my first time learning Indonesian. Even though it’s done online, I really enjoyed it. We are not only learning the language but also the culture. LINGUA class allowed me to get to know many cultures and tribes in Indonesia, ” she said.

Ania hoped that the pandemic will end quickly and she can immediately visit Indonesia. Ania revealed that after joining the LINGUA class, she was encouraged to make videos and explore various cultures in Indonesia.

Nishanth J, a participant in AMERTA Global Joint Class program, said that he felt lucky to be able to participate and build international connections. “Lecturers from India, Australia, and UNAIR provided interesting and easy to understand material even though the classes were conducted online. I am really looking forward to UNAIR’s other international programs in the future,“ added the Indian student.

UNAIR’s Airlangga Global Engagement also presented a guest lecture on “Being Positive and Optimistic During Pandemic”. UNAIR Psychology Lecturer Atika Dian Ariana, emphasized the importance of psychological management in order to maintain a healthy mind and body immunity. “So one way to reduce stress and boredom during quarantine is to participate in useful programs such as AMERTA and LINGUA which are able to increase socialization between individuals,” said Atika.

At the end of the event held via Zoom, all program participants were invited to play games and exchange experiences, messages and impressions.

Dr. Muhammad Miftahussurur M., Vice-Rector for Internationalization, Digitalization and Information, in his remarks said that UNAIR will strive to come up with more such interesting international programs in the future.

“Even though the implementation is limited due to the pandemic, we always try to provide programs that are really useful for increasing the skills and knowledge of the participants. We hope to meet you again in the future and together build international connectivity, “he added.

In a bid to come up with solutions to monitor, predict and improve air quality, particularly in megacities, the University of Helsinki and Slush conducted a virtual hackathon titled ‘Venture With Air’, and  “Haze-Ard” a solution proposed by a team from the International Institute of Information Technology – Hyderabad (IIIT-H) has made it to the shortlisted works.

The competition saw entries from 12 different countries across 4 continents, with only 8 submissions making it to a shortlist. The organizers invited participants to come up with answers to questions such as how to make cities more liveable through tracking and presenting street-corner air quality data, how local businesses can use real-time air quality data to serve their clients better, and so on.

IIITH students under the supervision of Dr. Sachin Chaudhari created an application to address environmental visibility. According to the team comprising of Rajashekar Reddy Chinthalapani, Jayanthi Narang, Siddharth De and Sara Spanddhana, while various parameters of air quality are monitored and discussed, conditions of poor visibility are never updated to the general public. They decided to focus on this aspect because as humans, we are more sensitive psychologically and physiologically to visual input. Plus, pollution in terms of poor visibility is there for everyone to see.

The team’s main objective was to propose a solution based on the deployed air pollution sensor network with the potential to simultaneously save lives and be commercialized. Titled ‘Haze-Ard’, the solution aims to predict visibility values in kilometre on a specified path or at a specified place by using data from the air pollution sensor network deployed in Finland and the data generated using FMI SILAM model.

Impressed by the scope of solutions offered by the teams, Jari Strandman, CEO of Helsinki Innovation Services said, “All of the shortlisted works were of very high quality.” According to one of the jury members, Maija Palmer, “The (Haze-Ard) innovation focused on one particular aspect of air quality which has real consequences for people. It feels a bit niche because this is a solution for megacities only, but in those cities, it has the potential to save lives.”

Porphyrins are interesting drug delivery vehicles that can specifically accumulate in cancer cells. However, how the structure of the drug-conjugated porphyrin affects its ability to penetrate and accumulate within cancer cells is not well understood. Researchers from the Tokyo University of Science (TUS) are investigating the correlation between the structure and tumor accumulation of porphyrin derivatives. Their findings can help to optimize drug delivery, possibly advancing cancer treatment.

Researchers at TUS, including Asst. Prof. Toshifumi Tojo, Mr. Koshi Nishida, Assoc. Prof. Takeshi Kondo, and Prof. Makoto Yuasa, have dug deeper into how the structure of porphyrin derivatives can affect tumor accumulation. Their findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Explaining their motivation, Dr. Tojo, who led the study, says, “Porphyrins are used as the basic skeleton of new drugs for cancer treatment due to their ability to accumulate in cancer cells. They possess different functional group modification positions for drug conjugation. Whether these positions confer different physical properties and membrane permeability remains unclear. Our aim was to investigate how these differences impact drug delivery.”

In their study, the researchers explored the β (third) and meso (middle) position of functional groups in porphyrins. First, using a breast cancer cell line, they looked into how these functional positions affect the time-dependent accumulation in cancer cells, ranging from 2- to 24-hour time points. They found that meso-derivatives accumulated in cells at 3-fold higher amounts than β-derivatives and that derivatives with smaller functional groups allowed better aggregation than the larger ones.

Next, they investigated how these functional group positions influence the pathway by which porphyrins enter cancer cells. They found that porphyrin conjugates form complexes with plasma proteins that facilitate their transport via endocytic vesicles. Additionally, the compounds could also diffuse into the cytoplasm through the cell membrane.

Moreover, considering their electron-rich nature, porphyrins likely interact with serum proteins that transport them to the cells. The researchers, therefore, measured how different positions influence the affinity of these porphyrin conjugates with serum proteins and how increased affinity may enhance tumor accumulation. They found that while the meso-position improves intracellular accumulation of porphyrin conjugates, it did not have a major effect on the movement of small functional groups into the cell.

Concluding their findings, Dr. Tojo remarks, “Our study reveals that the functional group modification position of porphyrin greatly affects the membrane permeability and intracellular tumor accumulation. We are hopeful that our findings can help inform guidelines for the structural design of novel porphyrin drugs.”

Overall, their study gives insight into how the structure of drug delivery systems like porphyrins must be considered to achieve maximum efficacy, hopefully paving the way for advancements in cancer drug delivery.